Sunderland vs Tottenham Hotspur

Dour draw on Wearside

Spurs draw a blank at the Stadium of Light

Last Updated: 07/04/12 5:01pm

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Tottenham were able to move back into third place on Saturday, but an uninspiring 0-0 draw with Sunderland left plenty of room for improvement.

Man of the match: Craig Gardner. Helped to keep Tottenham at arm's length and put in a brilliant last-ditch challenge on Gareth Bale late in the game.
Effort of the match: In a game of few opportunities, a speculative strike from Benoit Assou-Ekotto came close to catching Simon Mignolet off guard.
Moment of the match: Kyle Walker did really well to deny James McClean a tap in as Sunderland looked to snatch a dramatic winner.
Talking point: Can Tottenham cling on to their top-four standing? How much credit does Martin O'Neill deserve for turning Sunderland into a side that are hard to beat?

Spurs bossed possession at the Stadium of Light, but they were unable to break down a stubborn Black Cats outfit that was happy to sit deep and play counter-attacking football.

Emmanuel Adebayor saw a penalty shout waved away during a hard-fought first half, as his header struck Phil Bardsley on the arm, but neither keeper was overly troubled during an opening 45 minutes that brought plenty of graft but little guile.

Things failed to improve after the interval, with Spurs found to be lacking in ideas and Sunderland happy to stand firm and pick up another point.

Hunger

Although a point was enough to nudge Spurs ahead of North London rivals Arsenal, Harry Redknapp's hunger for a win was obvious in his late introductions of Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe.

Adebayor, Gareth Bale and Rafael Van der Vaart all came close for the visitors who started well but faded as Martin O'Neill's resolute Sunderland held firm.

In a game of few clear-cut chances, the best opportunities for Sunderland fell to Stephane Sessegnon and Nicklas Bendtner, but there was precious little to threaten either of the two goalkeepers.

Given the attacking riches on show that came as something of a surprise, and goals certainly seemed to be in the offing in the early stages which the visitors largely dominated.